Mailing List flyrotary@lancaironline.net Message #39152
From: Rogers, Bob J. <BRogers@FDIC.gov>
Subject: RE: [FlyRotary] Re: AeroElectric-List: Shakeup at EAA Sport Aviation
Date: Thu, 23 Aug 2007 14:28:48 -0500
To: Rotary motors in aircraft <flyrotary@lancaironline.net>
RE: [FlyRotary] Re: AeroElectric-List: Shakeup at EAA Sport Aviation

      (snip - you said) "Mr. Hipschman has had a PP-SEL for three years.  He's been the editor for, what?, five or so.  I accept that as proof of my statement, "The guy took a job editing what should be an intensely hardcore aviation

      publication, and he didn't have so much as a PP-SEL."

In fact, Mr. Hipschman has been the editor of Sport Aviation for less than three years; therefore, he was a licensed pilot when he took the job.  Go back and look at your Sport Aviation magazines and find where he first took over.

-----Original Message-----
From: Rotary motors in aircraft [mailto:flyrotary@lancaironline.net] On Behalf Of Ernest Christley
Sent: Thursday, August 23, 2007 9:20 AM
To: Rotary motors in aircraft
Subject: [FlyRotary] Re: AeroElectric-List: Shakeup at EAA Sport Aviation

Richard Girard wrote:

> Golly gosh, everything printed on the internet isn't always true? I'm

> shocked, truly shocked. Maybe Elvis really is dead.

>

> Rick

>

He's not.  I saw him a few weeks ago on the TV.

Berkut13, the message is valid, insomuch as I actually wrote it, and I

did report what I had heard as accurately as I am able.  I believe my

source (who would kick my butt for making such a controversy) was

truthful and knowledgeable.  You may not be able count on the

reliability of the "grapevine", but it is all we have.  And don't kid

yourself that the talking heads that we call reporters are anything more

than a glorified grapevine.  You are correct that everything on the

Internet needs to be taken with a truckload of salt, but the same goes

for news that you get from anywhere else.  (Queue "Dan Rather" vs. "Fair

and Balanced" into another thread please.) The real crime is when

important events occur, but no one hears about them because the official

branches of the grapevine get choked off.  Having said that, I'm willing

to admit that I have been completely wrong and should have kept the

information to myself...but not yet.

Membership revenues, especially from fiscal year-end numbers, is a

lagging indicator...and I mean a BIG lag.  A downward turn in renewal

rates could easily take 18 months to be realized.  If the fiscal year

ends tomorrow, and no one signed up for the rest of the year, the 2007

year could still show an increase.  It wouldn't be until February 28,

2009 that the downturn would show up in a year end audit.  Charts and

spreadsheets are not reality.  Without being privy to month to month

figures, we don't know the real story.  I still grant you that I may be

wrong, but I reserve that the year end numbers you quote are not proof

thereof.

The August edition of SA was possibly shipped to the printer as early as

June.  A firing that happened a week or two ago would not show up in the

publication.  It would also be VERY easy to know about.  The EAA isn't

THAT large, and there is a lot of networking among the various members. 

Secretaries, writers, even the janitor would know about it.  A former

editor was asked to stand in as interim editor until they find a

replacement.  Either I'm lying about that, the upstanding gentleman I

was talking to was lying, or one of us was completely confused.

Mr. Hipschman has had a PP-SEL for three years.  He's been the editor

for, what?, five or so.  I accept that as proof of my statement, "The

guy took a job editing what should be an intensely hardcore aviation

publication, and he didn't have so much as a PP-SEL."

I'm ready and willing to be proven wrong.  The good Lord and my Momma

know that I've had enough practice to be good at it.  I didn't think to

double-check behind my source, because he know some of the primary

actors personally and I just really can't phathom him making this sort

of thing up.  If I am wrong, then it will be because people like

yourself bother themselves to bring more information to light, and I

apologize in advance for any inconvenience I may have caused.

> On 8/22/07, * berkut13@berkut13.com <mailto:berkut13@berkut13.com>*

> <berkut13@berkut13.com <mailto:berkut13@berkut13.com>> wrote:

>

>     --> AeroElectric-List message posted by: <berkut13@berkut13.com

>     <mailto:berkut13@berkut13.com>>

>

>     (sigh)

>

>     As you and the others likely know, the "grapevine" seldom can be

>     relied upon

>     for accurate dissemination of news.

>

>     I looked at the published, audited financial statement for

>     EAA.  It compares

>     the most recent audited years ending February 28, 2006 and

>     2007.  While the

>     report does not give the number of members, it does show the

>     revenue from

>     membership dues (same rate for both years @ $40).  There was a

>     $143,667

>     increase in revenue in 2007 over 2006.  Based on that, it seems

>     membership

>     increased.  For membership to have dropped by 20% in the last

>     year, the

>     membership dues revenue would have to show a decrease of more than

>     $1.2

>     million.

>

>     As for Mr. David Hipschman, he is still listed as the Editor of Sport

>     Aviation magazine in the August issue.  Even if he is leaving,

>     there is no

>     way to know if he was fired.  I also looked up David Hipschman in

>     the FAA

>     database - he is a PP-ASEL for three years now and lives in WI.

>

>     It may still be a good idea to suggest that members write EAA with

>     their own

>     ideas for change or improvement of the organization, but I'm not

>     sure that

>     we can take the so-called "change" as a given - or the validity of

>     this

>     email for that matter.

>

--

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